Final Occupy Wall Street Defendant, Cecily McMillan, is Sentenced

UPDATED | An Occupy Wall Street member was sentenced to 90 days in jail Monday for assaulting a police officer in a case that recalled tensions from the protest’s heyday.

Cecily McMillan, a 25-year-old New School graduate student, was the final criminal defendant stemming from the group’s demonstrations in 2011 and 2012, most in lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park.

Ms. McMillan, who faced up to seven years in prison, will also serve five years of probation. She has already served about 14 days in jail, which will be credited toward her 90-day sentence.

Her case has become a cause célèbre of Occupy Wall Street, attracting attention from a broad range of supporters, including City Council members and members of Pussy Riot, a group that has gained attention for opposing the policies of the Russian government.

In a statement before Judge Ronald Zweibel, Ms. McMillan maintained her innocence.

“I cannot confess to a crime that I did not commit,” she said. Still, the “law of love requires me to acknowledge the unintentional harm I caused another. For this accident…I am truly sorry,” said Ms. McMillan who had changed out of a prison jumpsuit into a bright pink dress for the hearing. She also asked the judge for leniency.

Demonstrators rally to support leniency for Cecily McMillan on the steps of City Hall in May.

Keith Bedford for The Wall Street Journal

The conviction stems from an incident on March 17, 2012, when demonstrators tried to assemble in Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan after being evicted from an encampment there six months earlier. As New York Police Department officers were making arrests Ms. McMillan elbowed Officer Grantley Bovell, injuring his eye.

She declined an offer from prosecutors to plead guilty to the felony in exchange for a recommendation that she not serve prison time.

Ms. McMillan doesn’t dispute that she threw the elbow. She testified at trial that she did so as a reaction to having her right breast grabbed from behind. her. Officer Bovell testified that “she crouched down, she elbowed me in the face,” resulting in a cut cheek and a swollen eye.

Speaking outside the courthouse after the hearing, Ms. McMillan’s attorney, Martin Stolar, said she would appeal her conviction and that her sentence is excessive. He said she already suffered enough at the hands of the officers.

“An appropriate deterrent message needs to be sent that anyone who intentionally hurts a police officer,” Ms. Strain said.

Still, prosecutors said a heavy sentence wasn’t appropriate, citing Ms. McMillan’s lack of a previous criminal record and the fact that the assault “occurred during a highly volatile situation.”

Judge Zweibel accepted the recommendation, and Ms. McMillan returned to Rikers Island in handcuffs to serve the remainder of her sentence.

“A civilized society must not allow an assault to be permitted under the guise of civil disobedience,” the judge said.

Ms. Strain echoed that sentiment in her comments, saying, “This trial wasn’t a referendum on a large social cause or movement.”

Supporters of Ms. McMillan packed the courtroom for her sentencing Monday morning, spilling into the hallway. They did the same when the guilty verdict was read, and shouted “shame, shame!” when she was ordered to be held in jail pending sentencing.

Ms. McMillan stands out as a figure for Occupy Wall Street supporters to rally around. She is relatively moderate, and some of the movement’s members who knew her said she was alienated for insisting the group disavow violence.